The Lost City: Daniel Radcliffe Continues His Journey Into Strange

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A romance novelist, played by Sandra Bullock, and her cover model, played by Channing Tatum find themselves deep within the jungle, on an Indiana Jones like adventure.

Honestly I enjoyed the trailer for this film more than the film itself, which is sad as I had been eagerly awaiting this film for some time. I thought a lot of the film’s best jokes were wasted on the trailer, leaving the actual viewing experience as devoid of humour, with me laughing maybe once or twice at most.

I thought for the most part this was a deeply generic adventure film though it had its moments. I enjoyed the romantic connection between Bullock and Tatum, I thought they had great chemistry and were a very strong on screen pairing. Moreover, this film is a strong return to form for Tatum and marks yet another good step in his return to the big screen following on from a great performance in Dog. Likewise, Daniel Radcliff continues his journey as one of the most versatile and strangest performers in Hollywood with his character being a highlight of the film, whenever he came on screen the film seemed to pick up.

However, on the other hand this was a very by the numbers performance for Bullock, and Brad Pitt was barely in this film, again all his best bits were used in the trailer, clearly they couldn’t afford his day rate.

Another big issue I had with this film was its tameness, clearly in the beginning this film was supposed to be raunchier than it is, but was then made tamer to appeal to a wider audience in my mind this was a huge mistake.

Overall, entertaining but disappointing in the long run.

Pros.

Tatum

Radcliffe

It is very watchable

Cons.

Pitt

A lot of the good jokes were spoiled by the trailer

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The Nan Movie: Elder Abuse

1.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Catherine Tate tries to resurrect her career by bringing one of her characters from her noughties sketch show to the feature film realm, with rather unsurprisingly negative results.

Who was this made for? I am curious as this didn’t act as a gateway into Tate’s sketch show so it can’t have been for new audiences, maybe it was made for older fans but then if that was the case then why wait so long? It doesn’t make sense.

This films brand of comedy has not been funny or in vogue for about 10 years. This comedy can only be described as laughing at those with differences, the Little Britain sense of humour. There were multiple jokes in this film were the punchline was the fact that the lead, played by Tate, was being homophobic or laughing at a man in drag, not only is this not funny but it is borderline offensive. I am not one of those people to get up in arms over something not being PC, but here it felt mean spirited, excused away by ‘oh the joke is her reaction and her attitudes’, to me it felt like Tate and her fellow co-writer couldn’t think of any funny jokes so just decided to bash people not like them.

Moreover, I was sad to see Katherine Parkinson in this as she is so above this kind of slop that slumming it would be an understatement, I hope she at least got a big pay out for this appearance. The flashback stuff worked well, perhaps better than the present day sequences that range from nonsensical to desperate, sadly the flashbacks are undercut by the rest of the film and clash horribly.

Overall, a desperate film made for a bygone age.

Pros.

It is watchable

The flashbacks work well

Cons.

It isn’t funny

It is offensive

It wastes the talents of Katherine Parkinson

It is dull

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Operation Mincemeat: The Most Shocking Hand Sex Scene In The History Of Cinema

2.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A daring tale of WW2 espionage is ruined by a ham fisted love triangle that becomes distracting.

Before seeing this film I was excited the event this is based on is fascinating. For those of you who don’t know Operation Mincemeat was a British military plan whereby a corpse was floated ashore in Spain carrying false papers in an effort to convince the Axis powers that the Allies were going to attack Greece instead of Sicily. At the time the plan was deemed incredibly risky and is now viewed as one of the greatest feats of espionage ever. That premise sets this film up to be a good war time thriller, however, the focus is not on the operation itself really at all instead it focuses on the personal lives of the characters.

Colin Firth, Kelly MacDonald and Matthew Macfadyen, the three sides of the love triangle, all give good performances. The performances of those involved is not the problem, what is a problem however is the fact that the love triangle between these three actor’s characters becomes of greater importance to the plot than anything else. I thought it was entirely needless.

Moreover, during the Spain sequence there are these incredibly random sex scenes that just sort of come out of nowhere and feel weird. I don’t know if they are done in reference to real things that happened and were included for authenticities sake, but if they weren’t what are they doing in the film? The hand-job scene in particular had everyone in my showing of the film looking at each other in shock and confusion asking why this was happening?

Overall, though the film was very watchable and had good performances for the most part, the focus is in entirely the wrong place.

Pros.

It is watchable

Strong performances across the board

When they actually talk about the plan it is interesting

Cons.

The love triangle

The sex scenes

It has awful pacing

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The Jack In The Box: If You Find A Creepy Box In The Ground Leave It There

3.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A demon jack-in-the-box is discovered and brought to a local English museum, however, once situated people start to go missing and bodies start piling up.

This film won’t win any awards, but I enjoyed it for doing something new with the killer clown format, I don’t think I have ever seen a demonically possessed jack-in-the-box before on screen so in that regard this is a nice dose of originality.

Moreover, a further strength of this film is that it benefits from a certain B movie esque charm, you can tell that this film was made on a very low budget but it looks good for it, it gives the film more of a real world edge that helps to sell the demon jack-in-the-box more thoroughly.

However, my main criticisms of this film would be that the performances are fairly week across the board, no one not even the lead delivers anything even close to a good performance which at times can take you out of the film.

Overall, certainly not the best film you will ever see but there is an unmistakable charm and originality to this film that genre diehards will enjoy.

Pros.

The originality

The scares

The B movie charm

The design of the demon

Cons.

The performances are awful

The final twist is laughably predictable

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Sabrina: Move Over Annabelle

2.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

An Indonesian demon doll film.

I enjoyed the originality of the scares on display in this film, and that despite being a doll film which in and off itself is a very played out genre there is some originality here. Moreover, I also will commend this film for the lengths it goes to in terms of its physical effects, though at times you can tell it is very low budget when the demon woman, played by Asri Handayani, is featured you can tell the film is pulling out the stops. The look of the demon woman is constantly on point and well maintained.

However, where this film falls apart for me is that its tone is all over the place, sometimes it is scary and seems like a genuine horror film whereas other times it feels closer to a horror comedy as the campy elements start to play up. Furthermore, the film has awful pacing issues and has no business being on for almost two hours, what makes this especially bad is the fact that the film has several long drawn out flashback scenes that drag on and on.

Overall, though I appreciate the originality, the tone and the pacing issues really stop this film from being in any way above average.

Pros.

The originality

The make-up effects

The scares

Cons.

The pacing

The tone

The performances

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Why Me: In Search Of Answers

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Actor Pietro Sermonti goes in search of answers regarding how much our DNA predetermines our life.

I thought this documentary was quite informative and posed questions I had never really thought about before, I can say that I feel smarter for watching it.

Moreover, I thought the cast of talking heads the film brought together were a nice mix, I found them to be both knowledge able, but also from enough different areas and backgrounds that it never felt one sided in it’s exploration of the subject area.

Overall, interesting for about three quarters of the run time, sadly that other quarter really drags.

Pros.

It is interesting, for the most part

A good selection of talking heads

It is informative and I felt like I learnt something from it

Cons.

Pacing issues

Some sections went on for too long and approached boredom

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The Outfit: The Perfect Fit?

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A humble tailor, played by Mark Rylance, becomes wrapped up in a war between two rival Chicago gangs.

I thought this film leant a bit too heavily on Rylance, luckily he is more than capable of not only keeping it going but also elevating it, however without Rylance this film would be lost in a sea of mediocrity.

I thought for the few brief scenes he had Dylan O’Brien was a very welcome presence, and he also entirely lost himself in the role, however, the film kills him off early on and creates some what of a void for itself, as none of the other characters, bar Rylance, are in anyway interesting.

I enjoyed the mystery about Rylance’s characters past and found myself keenly invested in it. The same can’t be said for the warring gangs plotline which for the most part felt incredibly played out and more than a little overly familiar. The ending somewhat brought it all together to offer us something satisfying but even then I think the film could have gone further.

Overall, Mark Rylance makes this film what it is, but even he can’t propel it to greatness.

Pros.

Rylance

O’Brien

The mystery surrounding the lead’s past

Cons.

The central plot all felt very generic and familiar

The rest of the cast outside of Rylance and O’Brien are forgettable

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The Contractor: A Wannabe Tom Clancy Film

2/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Yet another generic American military film, this time about a cash strapped soldier, played by Chris Pine, who becomes a private contractor to make ends meet only for it to go wrong.

This film felt like a Tom Clancy story without any of the smarts, or a David Makenzie film without the style. In many ways you have seen this film before, you know everything that happens in it and how it ends even before it has started, it is incredibly predictable.

Not only is it predictable but also aggressively boring as well. Yes, there is some competently put together action scenes and enough intrigue to at least keep you off your phone, but in no way is this film interesting. Kiefer Sutherland’s villain is obviously one from the get-go, so when he does betray Pine’s character you are left saying ‘finally’, rather than ‘ I didn’t see that coming’.

Another thing I didn’t like about this film was how little they gave Gillian Jacobs to do and how her role was worse than a cliché. Jacob’s plays the long suffering wife of Pine’s character and does seem to exist as a character or a person outside of him at least in the eyes of the film. I understand the film is a rough tough action film about men and war, but that doesn’t mean the female characters have to be reduced to barely human cliches good for raising kids and ignoring.

Overall, nothing you haven’t seen before.

Pros.

It is watchable

A few competent action scenes

Pine is serviceable

Cons.

It is dull

It is predictable

It reduces it’s female characters to less than cliches

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The Kid Who Would Be King: The School Play Version Of King Arthur

2.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A new retelling of the King Arthur legend.

I am very mixed on this one, on one hand I enjoyed that it felt like a fresh take on the King Arthur legend apart from all the other adaptions of the story, it also had an incredibly distinct British charm and sensibility to it that I thought added a lot to the film. Moreover, it featured Patrick Stewart and I find it hard to not like something with Stewart in it.

However, on the other hand this film lacked any fun or imagination it needed to really come to life. There are some sections in the film that feel imaginative and well-executed perhaps even Harry Potter esque, but then they end and the film replaces them with a long drawn out beige scene in which the film progresses but doesn’t make you feel anything whilst doing so.

Additionally, what may be the greatest crime of this film is that it wastes Rebecca Ferguson in a villain role wherein she is given nothing to do and is kept off-screen for most of the film. This is an incredibly baffling decision as Ferguson is an incredibly strong performer so by not including her the film shoots itself in the foot.

Overall, it has potential but does nothing with it.

Pros.

The British feel to the film

A number of imaginative scenes

Patrick Stewart

Cons.

It doesn’t execute on its potential

It splits into dull

It wastes Rebecca Ferguson

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Metal Lords: Yet Another Film About High School Outcasts Forming A Band

2/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A group of high school outcasts form a metal band.

My, my the originality of this film is honestly a little shocking, I am being sarcastic if that wasn’t obvious. How many films before have had this exact same plot, I would find it very hard to say but I would say it is a very large number.

I understand D.B Weiss, yes one of the Game Of Thrones writers who you thought had faded away into infamy, wrote this based on his own personal high school experience but there is so little love or personality here that it just sort of fades into the shadow of other better films like Deathgasm.

Adrian Greensmith was well cast and does manage to give us a truly haunting performance of a deeply troubled young man who is lashing out at a world that has never shown him any kindness. He and an oddly perfect cameo from Joe Manganiello do help to make the film somewhat more enjoyable, however it simply isn’t enough.

Overall, this is the sort of film that will be promptly forgotten about 10 minutes after watching.

Pros.

Greensmith

Manganiello

Cons.

It is generic

It adds nothing new to the genre

Most of the cast are deeply milquetoast

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